GDT: Animal House, Bruins @ Devils, 7:30 TNT

[Emperoreddy]

The "win at least one game" challenge

 

[DerekDevils30]

I may take a sabbatical from this place, willingly this time. Not just because the doomsday prediction posts are so downright cringe and insufferable and I think I need to step away from that bullshit, but also because the losing coincided closely with my return. I think I need to do it for myself and the good of the team.

See you in April against the Pens in round 1!

 

[Blackjack]

Devils will be the laughing stock of the league if they don't recover NOW and start winning games to prevent this from happening.

I honestly don't care if anyone wants to laugh if we end up with a lotto win. Those chuckles will turn to tears real quick.

 

[NJDevs26]

Not sure how some can say Boston is overrated, they are for real...

I mean put it this way...they're 28-4-3 with a history of being a 100+ point playoff team, if they're not for real than nobody is.

 

[glenwo2]

I get that it's annoying to wait for them to work out of this funk but they're still in a decent spot with games in hands on teams, the issue is that this division is ruthless from 1-6. If we won tonight, we would've been closer to Carolina than we are the Islanders. And like someone said, if the division keeps winning at this pace then yeah clearly it's not meant to be if they keep shooting they way they are. Caps are on a heater, Rangers are a decent roll, Isles have found their game, etc. It's up to the Devils to find theirs from now to the end of the January on a similar run.

Watch the Devils "find theirs" when they're firmly out of the playoff picture and will win just enough so their draft position is worse.

 

[Dialamo]

That's the other thing that worries me. Aside from Palat the Devils really haven't had any costly injuries yet, and don't give me Bastian. If we're that fragile a fourth liner is a major injury then we really aren't that good. I'm not sure that kind of good fortune will keep up the rest of the year.

Don't forget Marino and Graves...

 

[Devs3cups]

I may take a sabbatical from this place, willingly this time. Not just because the doomsday prediction posts are so downright cringe and insufferable and I think I need to step away from that bullshit, but also because the losing coincided closely with my return. I think I need to do it for myself and the good of the team.

Your return has no bearing on the results my man. It's been fun having you around lately and your attitude towards the team is refreshing. I'm glad you can see the progress and the bright future for the team.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

Ef it really. Even when the effort is there, they still lose, just like tonight. Sad to start setting our sights for 23-24 season already but the team just cant get shit done

 

[NJDevs26]

Which, by the way, most people here would've been happy with at the start of the season.

Well the thirteen-game streak and twenty-one out of twenty-five raised the stakes. Now anything short of the playoffs is a disaster, and this team's staring right at the abyss.

 

[Blackjack]

Literally .500 hockey would have been fine this month. They couldn't even come close to that.

I'm really sick of hearing that our expectations were unreasonable after the streak. They were not. Everyone here was prepared to lose some games, everyone was prepared for a slump.

No one was ready for the team to take a shit for an entire month, nor should they have been.

 

[NJDevs26]

Don't forget Marino and Graves...

Fair but they've only been out two or three games and you really can't attribute the last couple losses to them, particularly tonight.

 

[DerekDevils30]

I may take a sabbatical from this place, willingly this time. Not just because the doomsday prediction posts are so downright cringe and insufferable and I think I need to step away from that bullshit, but also because the losing coincided closely with my return. I think I need to do it for myself and the good of the team.

No seriously. Stick around. Team needs to learn how to win with you in the fold.

 

[Call Me Al]

people really need to start taking advantage of marijuana legalization in NJ

i tried. maybe the new trend of legalizing mushrooms will help

 

[Whaddagoal]

I may take a sabbatical from this place, willingly this time. Not just because the doomsday prediction posts are so downright cringe and insufferable and I think I need to step away from that bullshit, but also because the losing coincided closely with my return. I think I need to do it for myself and the good of the team.

Dont dissappear for real. The downturn has nothing to do with you. Lol. It just happened to coincide, but obviously not you! Anyway, Jim was out on a hutning/roadtrip when we went on the streak, so you can always defer to him.

Really, Its just NJ be NJ. Palat will be back that will do something good soon. This team better learn from this though.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

This team has 3 points out of their last 10 games (i.e. max 20points attainable) thats just ridiculous

 

[Devs3cups]

Well the thirteen-game streak and twenty-one out of twenty-five raised the stakes. Now anything short of the playoffs is a disaster, and this team's staring right at the abyss.

Speak for yourself. My expectations haven't changed, regardless of the streak. Sure, the playoffs were way more in reach during the streak, but I always saw this team as a wild card/bubble team this year. Progress is progress and perspective is important.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Well the thirteen-game streak and twenty-one out of twenty-five raised the stakes. Now anything short of the playoffs is a disaster, and this team's staring right at the abyss.

Yeah you can't start that way then just go back to the old expectations like it never happened.

The team raised the stakes then completely failed to live up to those stakes.

They haven't lived up to the preseason stakes this month either though. A very sub .500 month is last year shit

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

people really need to start taking advantage of marijuana legalization in NJ

I had assumed that was the inspiration behind a good number of the posts on here.

No way people come up with some of this stuff without being high.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This team has 3 points out of their last 10 games (i.e. max 20points attainable) thats just ridiculous

 

[Devs3cups]

Yeah you can't start that way then just go back to the old expectations like it never happened.

The team raised the stakes then completely failed to live up to those stakes.

They haven't lived up to the preseason stakes this month either though. A very sub .500 month is last year shit

You literally can though.

 

[Devils090]

We have the same December record we did last year, that’s a compete joke

 

[NJDevs26]

I'm really sick of hearing that our expectations were unreasonable after the streak. They were not. Everyone here was prepared to lose some games, everyone was prepared for a slump.

No one was ready for the team to take a shit for an entire month, nor should they have been.

If anything the unreasonable expectations were anointing them a Cup contender after a great 1/3 of the season. That was way too premature. Even after the winning streak I think most of us should have ONLY expected the playoffs at that point. And there's actually a chance they might not hit that, which would be an embarrassment of the highest order

 

[Emperoreddy]

Fair but they've only been out two or three games and you really can't attribute the last couple losses to them, particularly tonight.

The bad part is it's going to eventually start affecting their play

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

That's the other thing that worries me. Aside from Palat the Devils really haven't had any costly injuries yet, and don't give me Bastian. If we're that fragile a fourth liner is a major injury then we really aren't that good. I'm not sure that kind of good fortune will keep up the rest of the year.

A "fourth line" player that also kills penalties and is one of the few capable of providing net front presence on the PP.

 

[jkrdevil]

I think the other worrying thing is that this stretch has coincided with the schedule getting tougher. Only 6 of their 22 wins have come against teams currently in playoff position. Only 1 (the ot win vs Toronto) against a team currently in the top 3 of their division. Obviously you are going to have less wins vs those type teams and more against bad teams, but you do need to get some results against those type teams if you are in a playoff race.